Photo/Illutration Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki responds to a question from a reporter in Naha on Oct. 4. (Minako Yoshimoto)

Tokyo moved Oct. 5 to remove the Okinawa prefectural government from future decision-making regarding a land reclamation project for a U.S. military base that has strained relations between the two entities to breaking point.

Land minister Tetsuo Saito submitted a lawsuit the same day at the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court to request an administrative subrogation order that would allow the central government to take over the approval process from the Okinawa prefectural government.

A high court ruling in favor of the central government would mark the first time for the central government to take an administrative matter out of the hands of a prefectural government, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The checkmate move came about because Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki missed a government-set deadline for a decision regarding a design change application submitted by the Defense Ministry for the land reclamation work off the Henoko district of Nago. The contentious project, bogged down in costly delays, is essential for the eventual relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan, also in Okinawa.

The land ministry had set an Oct. 4 deadline in its directive issued to Tamaki on Sept. 27 asking that he approve the design change application.

“At the present time, we are unable to reach a judgement to either approve or not approve” the application, Tamaki told reporters Oct. 4.

Tamaki sent a letter dated the same day to Saito explaining it was difficult to approve the application by the deadline because it did not allow sufficient time to analyze the various opinions received from the Okinawa public, administrative law scholars and others.

A Sept. 4 ruling by the Supreme Court against the Okinawa prefectural government finalized the prefectural government’s legal obligation to approve the design change application, which is intended to shore up the soft seabed off the Henoko coast.

As the head of the prefectural administrative branch, Tamaki had no choice but to abide by the Supreme Court ruling, which left him in a difficult position because opposition to the Henoko relocation was his main plank in winning the gubernatorial elections of 2018 and 2022.

About 70 percent of islanders opposed the relocation in a prefectural referendum in 2019.

Prefectural assembly members who back Tamaki, along with administrative law scholars, urged him to not approve the application.

In the end, Tamaki was unable to reach a decision one way or the other by the deadline.

Once the lawsuit seeking an administrative subrogation order is submitted, oral arguments from the two sides must be held within 15 days.

If the high court branch sides with the central government and issues a ruling ordering the Okinawa prefectural government to approve the application, the prefectural government could again decide not to obey the order. In that case, the central government would be allowed to act on behalf of the prefectural government and approve the application.

Tamaki told reporters that he would consider his options after he reads the lawsuit submitted by the land minister.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged during a meeting with reporters in Tokyo on Oct. 4 to continue to forge ahead with the Futenma relocation to provide peace of mind to the Okinawa people.

(This article was written by Taro Ono and Daisuke Yajima.)

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